Sharp County record., 1887-10-27

Ta IN
that, though he was ch, yet Tor your sakeS nc
became poor. ...-
WAS there ever contrast so overpow wer-
,ag as that between the no0neey 9l
Christ,s celestial departure and the MD
night of his earthly arrival! sure
ano,igh, tbe angels were out that night IN
tbe skv. and especial meteors acted as
escort, but all that was from other worlds
and not from this world. The earth made
no demonstration of welcome. If one OF
the great princes of this world steps out at
a depot cheers reSound, and the bands
play, and the flags wave. But Tor the
arrival of this missionary Prince OF the
skies not a torch fared, not a trum-
pet blew, not d plume huttered' All
the music and the pcup were
overhead. Our world opened for him Moth
inc better than barn door. The RaJah
hf Cashmere sent to Victoria bedstead OF
carved gold and a canopy that cost S'oO,..
900. but the world had for the Prince OF
Heaven and earth only litter Oh straw
The Crown jewels in the Tower OF London
amount to Sl5,OO),O0O, but this member OF
eternal royalty had nowhere to lay his
head. To know how poor he was, ask the
camel drivers, ask the shepherds, ask
Mary, ask the three wise men of the East
who afterward came there, young Caspar
and middle-agel Balthasar and old Mel
ehior. To know how poor he was, examine
all the records of real estate in all that
Oriental country and see what vineyard,
or what house, on what field he owned
Not one OF what mortgage was he the
MORTGAGE? Of what tenement was he the
landlord? OF what lease was he the lesseef
Who ever paid him rent?
For your sakes he became psor'
The world could have treated him better
if it had chosen. 1t had all the means for
making his earthly condition comfort
able. Only a few years before, when
Pompey, the General, arrived at Brindisi,
he was greeted with arches and costly
column which celebrated the 12,OOO,OOO
people whom he had killed or conquered,
and he was allowed to wear his triumphal
robe in the Senate. The world had APP
plause for imperial butchers but buffetlng
for the Prince of Peace; plenty OF
golden chalices for the favored to
drink out of, but our Prince must
put his lips to the bucket OF
the we'll by the roadside after he had
begged for drink Poor? Born in an.
other mans barn and eating at another
mans table, and cruising the lake in an
other mans fishing smack, and buried IN
another mans mausoleum. Four inspired
authors wrote of his biography, and in
Vulnerable lives Of Christ have been pub
lished, but he composed his autobioS'
raphy in most compressed way. lie
said:
haven trodden the wine-press alone.
Poor in the estimation of nearly all the
prosperous classes They called him Sab
bath breaker, winebibber, traitor, bias
phemer, and ransacked the dictionary of
opprobrium from lid to lid to express their
detestation. can think now of only two
well-to-do men who espoused his cause,
Nicodemus and Joseph, of Arimathea. His
| friends for the most part were people VINO,
| in that climate where ophthalmy or in
! fammation of the e4e-ball sweeps ever
and anon as a scourge had become blind,
sick people who were anxious to get well,
and troubled people in whose family
| there was some one dead or
dying. II he bad purse at all 1t was
empty, or we would have heard what was
done with the contents at the post-mor-
TEN. Poor? The pigeon In the dove-cote,
| the rabbit in its burrow, the silk-worm in
its cocoon, the bee in its hive is better pro-
vided for better off, better sheltered.
Aye, the brute creation has home on
earth, which Christ had not.
II on windy days the raven
Gambol like dancing skiff,
Not the less he loves his haven
On the bosom Of the clin.
II almost with eagle pinion
Ger the Alps the chamois roam,
Yet he has some small dominion
Which no doubt he calls his home.
But the Crown Prince Of all heavenly
dominion had less than the raven, less
than the chamos, for he was homeless.
Ave, in the history of the universe there
/ is no other instance of such coming down.
Who can count the miles from the top OF
| the throne to the bottom of the crossf
Cleopatra, giving banquet to Anthony,
took pearl worth 100000 and dissolved
in vinegar and swallowed it. But when
our Prince, according TO the evangelist, in
his last hours took the vinegar, in it had
been dissolved all the pearls Of His
heavenly royalty. Down until there was
no other depth for Him to touch, troubled
until there was no other harassment to
suffer, poor until there was no other
pauperism to torture. Billions of dollars
spent in wars to destroy men, who will
furnish the statistics of the value of that
precious blood that was shed to save us?
Ye know the grace OF our Lord Jesus Christ,
that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he
became poor.
Only those who study this text in two
places can fully reach its power, the Holy
Land Of Asia Minor and the Holy Land OF
Heaven. How should like some day to
take drink out of Jacobs we'll, and take
a sail on Gallee, and read the Sermon on
the Mount while standing on Olivet, and
see the wilderness where Christ was tempt
ed, and be some afternoon on Calvary at
about three o'clock, the hour at which
closed the crucifixion, and sit under the
sycamores and by the side of brooks, and
think and dream and pray about the pow
erty OF Him who came our souls to save.
But you and | will probably be
denied that, and so here, in another
continent, and in another hemisphere,
and in scenes as different as possible,
we recount, as well we may, how poor
our Heavenly Prince became. And in the
| other HOLY Land above we NAV all study